Silence is golden…

or is it? For the past week the radio in my car has not been working, and given the distances that I drive to get to meetings, I’ve missed it.

Now it could be argued that I could have used this time alone in the car for deep reflection, but I didn’t. A couple of times I burst into song to try and break the silence, but my singing abilities have definitely not improved with age. I just don’t hold a tune that well.

Being technically challenged, I don’t have an iPod with my favourite music on it. What I really missed was being up to date on the news, hearing interesting stories from CBC and knowing ahead of time if there were troubles on the road.

Why didn’t like the silence? I think because it made me feel isolated. Alone. Cut off from the world, just sitting in my insulated box of a car with nothing to do, but hear myself breathe.

Maybe that’s why I don’t do so well with meditation. I can’t switch off my mind. What I did do in the car was think through my day, almost like a list – first I will do this, then that… How boring. Not really very productive, given I already knew what I had to do that day.

So after complaining loudly to my husband that the car had to be fixed, as the GPS wasn’t working either and I was tired of getting lost, he agreed to take it into the dealers.

So off he went. Before dropping the car off at the dealers, he thought he would just test the radio – who knows, it might work. Well, it did. He pressed the power button, and viola – the electronics came back on. So you can imagine the teasing I am getting now.

But I have learned a lot from this past week:

1. Always get Google Map directions as well, then if the GPS breaks down, you are not totally stuck or lost
2. I am not too old to get an iPod
3. I love CBC – they keep me connected to the world
4. Last but not least, press the power button – harder☺